Youth Criminal Justice Act

An Act in respect of criminal justice for young persons and to amend and repeal other Acts

Preamble

WHEREAS members of society share a responsibility to address the developmental challenges and the needs of young persons and to guide them into adulthood;

WHEREAS communities, families, parents and others concerned with the development of young persons should, through multi-disciplinary approaches, take reasonable steps to prevent youth crime by addressing its underlying causes, to respond to the needs of young persons, and to provide guidance and support to those at risk of committing crimes;

WHEREAS information about youth justice, youth crime and the effectiveness of measures taken to address youth crime should be publicly available;

WHEREAS Canada is a party to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and recognizes that young persons have rights and freedoms, including those stated in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the Canadian Bill of Rights, and have special guarantees of their rights and freedoms;

AND WHEREAS Canadian society should have a youth criminal justice system that commands respect, takes into account the interests of victims, fosters responsibility and ensures accountability through meaningful consequences and effective rehabilitation and reintegration, and that reserves its most serious intervention for the most serious crimes and reduces the over-reliance on incarceration for non-violent young persons;

NOW, THEREFORE, Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as follows:

Short Title

Marginal note:Short title

Interpretation

Marginal note:Definitions

adult means a person who is neither a young person nor a child. (adulte)

adult sentence

peine applicable aux adultes

adult sentence, in the case of a young person who is found guilty of an offence, means any sentence that could be imposed on an adult who has been convicted of the same offence. (peine applicable aux adultes)

Attorney General

procureur général

Attorney General means the Attorney General as defined in section 2 of the Criminal Code, read as if the reference in that definition to “proceedings” were a reference to “proceedings or extrajudicial measures”, and includes an agent or delegate of the Attorney General. (procureur général)

child

enfant

child means a person who is or, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, appears to be less than twelve years old. (enfant)

conference

groupe consultatif

conference means a group of persons who are convened to give advice in accordance with section 19. (groupe consultatif)

confirmed delivery service

service de messagerie

confirmed delivery service means certified or registered mail or any other method of service that provides proof of delivery. (service de messagerie)

custodial portion

période de garde

custodial portion, with respect to a youth sentence imposed on a young person under paragraph 42(2)(n), (o), (q) or (r), means the period of time, or the portion of the young person’s youth sentence, that must be served in custody before he or she begins to serve the remainder under supervision in the community subject to conditions under paragraph 42(2)(n) or under conditional supervision under paragraph 42(2)(o), (q) or (r). (période de garde)

disclosure

communication

disclosure means the communication of information other than by way of publication. (communication)

extrajudicial measures

mesures extrajudiciaires

extrajudicial measures means measures other than judicial proceedings under this Act used to deal with a young person alleged to have committed an offence and includes extrajudicial sanctions. (mesures extrajudiciaires)

extrajudicial sanction

sanction extrajudiciaire

extrajudicial sanction means a sanction that is part of a program referred to in section 10. (sanction extrajudiciaire)

offence

infraction

offence means an offence created by an Act of Parliament or by any regulation, rule, order, by-law or ordinance made under an Act of Parliament other than a law of the Legislature of Yukon, of the Northwest Territories or for Nunavut. (infraction)

parent

père ou mère ou père et mère

parent includes, in respect of a young person, any person who is under a legal duty to provide for the young person or any person who has, in law or in fact, the custody or control of the young person, but does not include a person who has the custody or control of the young person by reason only of proceedings under this Act. (père ou mère ou père et mère)

pre-sentence report

rapport prédécisionnel

pre-sentence report means a report on the personal and family history and present environment of a young person made in accordance with section 40. (rapport prédécisionnel)

presumptive offence

presumptive offence[Repealed, 2012, c. 1, s. 167]

provincial director

directeur provincial ou directeur

provincial director means a person, a group or class of persons or a body appointed or designated by or under an Act of the legislature of a province or by the lieutenant governor in council of a province or his or her delegate to perform in that province, either generally or in a specific case, any of the duties or functions of a provincial director under this Act. (directeur provincial ou directeur)

publication

publication

publication means the communication of information by making it known or accessible to the general public through any means, including print, radio or television broadcast, telecommunication or electronic means. (publication)

record

dossier

record includes any thing containing information, regardless of its physical form or characteristics, including microform, sound recording, videotape, machine-readable record, and any copy of any of those things, that is created or kept for the purposes of this Act or for the investigation of an offence that is or could be prosecuted under this Act. (dossier)

(a) an offence committed by a young person that includes as an element the causing of bodily harm;

(b) an attempt or a threat to commit an offence referred to in paragraph (a); or

(c) an offence in the commission of which a young person endangers the life or safety of another person by creating a substantial likelihood of causing bodily harm. (infraction avec violence)

young person

adolescent

young person means a person who is or, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, appears to be twelve years old or older, but less than eighteen years old and, if the context requires, includes any person who is charged under this Act with having committed an offence while he or she was a young person or who is found guilty of an offence under this Act. (adolescent)

youth custody facility

lieu de garde

youth custody facility means a facility designated under subsection 85(2) for the placement of young persons and, if so designated, includes a facility for the secure restraint of young persons, a community residential centre, a group home, a child care institution and a forest or wilderness camp. (lieu de garde)

youth sentence means a sentence imposed under section 42, 51 or 59 or any of sections 94 to 96 and includes a confirmation or a variation of that sentence. (peine spécifique)

youth worker

délégué à la jeunesse

youth worker means any person appointed or designated, whether by title of youth worker or probation officer or by any other title, by or under an Act of the legislature of a province or by the lieutenant governor in council of a province or his or her delegate to perform in that province, either generally or in a specific case, any of the duties or functions of a youth worker under this Act. (délégué à la jeunesse)

Marginal note:Words and expressions

(2) Unless otherwise provided, words and expressions used in this Act have the same meaning as in the Criminal Code.

Marginal note:Descriptive cross-references

(3) If, in any provision of this Act, a reference to another provision of this Act or a provision of any other Act is followed by words in parentheses that are or purport to be descriptive of the subject-matter of the provision referred to, those words form no part of the provision in which they occur but are inserted for convenience of reference only.